StumbleUpon is a social media and social networking tool that falls into two categories for many people. You either love it and use it, or you don’t know very much about it.
StumbleUpon has been on the web since 2001, and currently boasts over 8 million registered Stumblers. Once you open an account, you are able to set up which specific topics listed match your interests. Then you can use your account as a tool to “stumble” onto websites that match up. And also rate and review websites with your own personal and professional opinion.
StumbleUpon has made this as easy as possible by creating a toolbar that you can download into your browser, to easily “like” or “dislike” a website, share it, and write a review.
Why Use StumbleUpon?
So why should StumbleUpon be included in the social media strategy of the small business marketing plan? Well, with StumbleUpon you can:
- Drive Traffic to Your Website or Blog
- Gain Followers
- Follow and Network with Stumblers who Submit Articles you Like
- Write Reviews and Show your Expertise
- Join Groups in your Area of Interest
StumbleUpon also is a great way to interact with your clients and potential clients. You can really gain their attention by commenting on articles they stumble and providing professional and constructive feedback and thoughts.
How Can I Find my Potential Clients?
The latest version of StumbleUpon displays an amazing filtering system that can really be used to your marketing advantage. Currently you can filter StumbleUpon into:
- Tags - They currently have over 500 tags registered into topics, so you can really narrow down the type of stumbles (websites) you are interested in. If you are searching to network with Stumblers who share a very specific topic/ tag, this is an excellent way to find them.
- Books - Books are an excellent topic for discussion, and by filtering by books, you can choose from either Titles or Authors.
- Music - This filter displays tags related to popular Music Artists or Bands.
- Movies - The latest and most popular films are tagged, and filtered into this section.
- TV Shows – Like Books, Music and Movies, TV Shows create many tags for discussion.
- Cities - This one is very useful for networking. If you are wanting to network with Stumblers based on the city they live in, you can search the tags.
- Countries - If your target market is a certain country, you can follow and network with fellow Stumblers who are only located in the specific country you are interested in. This could be very handy for businesses.
How Can I Maximise the Traffic I Receive?
To get the most visitors coming to your site through StumbleUpon, it will depend on:
- How many “likes” or “thumbs up” your particular article/s receive
You can encourage your readers to “like” your post from your website, by installing a Stumble Badge, or through a Social Media Sharing Plugin/ Widget, like “Digg Digg” for example for WordPress blog users.
- The number of followers you have
You should invite your contacts to join you on StumbleUpon and “follow” your Stumbles. This can also boost your presence.
- The amount of “liking” you do
How many pages you StumbleUpon and review on the site, can really raise your profile. Once you become a Top Stumbler your exposure is much higher.
- The amount of reviews you write
In the latest version of StumbleUpon your “likes” are separated from your reviews. By submitting more reviews, and not just “likes” you build more credibility for your profile, and you increase your value as a contact.
StumbleUpon Tools
If you fall in love with StumbleUpon you may be interested in the extra tools/ features and services you can use with your account:
StumbleUpon have created the first URL-shortener designed to provide both syndication and discovery in one tool. 
This FREE tool is tied in with Twitter and Facebook, and is excellent for promoting your website, and also tracking and viewing analytics.
If you are an iPhone user, then you’ll appreciate their iPhone App, which allows to you to Stumble on the run.
The site offers you an option to sign up to advertise on the network on a cost per click basis. If using StumbleUpon it is best to use a landing page or popular post/ article within your site that your demographic or target audience would be interested in. Then you need to match your page or site with the appropriate category and demographic to advertise to. If you want to “test the waters” you can try it with a small sum of money to start to see if the clicks are conversions.
Final Tips
It’s important to note that:
- It’s not so much you supporting yourself that drives traffic to YOUR site. You really need to engage with others and get them “liking” your articles and posts on StumbleUpon.
- When a Stumbler arrives on your website following a particular Topic Tag, they are not exactly sure where they are going to end up. So your website needs to have a great design and make a great impression in those first few seconds.
- Building a great Stumbler Profile takes TIME and EFFORT and will take months of being supportive and giving. But in the end it will be worth it. Happy Stumbling!
Are you an avid Stumbler? Are you new to StumbleUpon? What do you think? Feel free to comment below.
Twitter: ResultsLady
October 4, 2010 at 3:45 am | Permalink
Fiona – This is a a great post. I have been playing around with Stumbleupon but not using it to its full potential. I love the ideas to find your potential client. Thanks, Michele Scism
Michele Scism´s last [type] ..Are You Easy
Twitter: abnormalmarket
October 4, 2010 at 7:04 pm | Permalink
@Michele Scism, Thanks Michele. Yes, until I researched this post, I had no idea all the things that could be done with StumbleUpon. I didn’t really like it when I first saw it a few years ago. But playing around on the site, I discovered some cool tools, so now I’m playing attention. And thanks for Stumbling this blog!
Feel free to reply to this post with your StumbleUpon profile address, so readers of this post can follow you.
I just joined stumbleupon and I think you have some excellent points here. Like anything else, if you put in the time and effort it will pay off.
Tom´s last [type] ..Top 5 Exercise Motivation Tips
Twitter: abnormalmarket
October 4, 2010 at 7:11 pm | Permalink
@Tom, Hi Tom, Happy to hear you just joined StumbleUpon! And yes with time and effort (the right effort) this will improve your chances of having an effective profile
Feel free to reply to this post with your StumbleUpon profile address, so readers of this post can follow you.
Twitter: Ileane
October 4, 2010 at 11:16 am | Permalink
Fiona, this is a very thorough overview of StumbleUpon and even though I’ve been using it for months, you really have hit on some points that I was missing. I didn’t know that Su.pr was tied into FaceBook and I wasn’t sure about the reviews carrying more weight than the likes. Thanks
Ileane´s last [type] ..How-To Customize Your FeedBurner Feed With Your Logo
Twitter: abnormalmarket
October 4, 2010 at 7:15 pm | Permalink
@Ileane, Hi Ileane, Thank you for your feedback. I think it’s tricky to see and understand the real potential of StumbleUpon when you sign up for an account. Their limited profile section (no space for your website or any other social media links) makes it difficult to really network with people. But luckily, if you scratch the surface a little, there is some opportunities to use it as a great tool.
Feel free to reply to this post with your StumbleUpon profile address, so readers of this post can follow you.
Twitter: seommotips
October 4, 2010 at 11:48 am | Permalink
Once I was really addicted to stumbleUpon and had huge number of folowers. It was earlier when StumbleUpon changed its way of sharing posts with friends on toolbar and when I started ICT Trends. I feld I need to be bold enough to come forward and face the world as real me. So, I created a new account and left that old fake one.
After SU has changed the way posts can be shared, I find it not that easy to drive traffic as it used to be. But anyway, the potential is still there. Again started to be active. I WILL BE.
Suresh Khanal´s last [type] ..Deep URL is not bad for Google SEO
Twitter: abnormalmarket
October 4, 2010 at 7:32 pm | Permalink
@Suresh Khanal, Thank you for sharing your experience with StumbleUpon Suresh. What was behind your original motivation to have a “fake” account? Were you trying to drive traffic to a specific location? Or were you just not comfortable to have a more personal profile?
Twitter: seommotips
October 5, 2010 at 3:19 am | Permalink
@Fiona Bosticky,
I did not know much about the Internet World and might be the lack of confidence, shame, lack of courage, greed to drive traffic quick and I don’t know what else. You know when you are creating your first site with that limited knowledge and you are not confident on the content you are pushing, you don’t have friends out there, it was something like trying to run in a strange palce at night. Well, that was past. I laugh at myself remembering what I did and what not.
StumbleUpon was a boon as it allowed to mass share among all of your friends and followers. They had no way out without visiting the site that was listed on their toolbar button. I did all that for psexam.com which today stands strong with google pr 6. In fact, that was not the right way of promoting and thus stumbleUpon has changed its way to share.
Suresh Khanal´s last [type] ..Deep URL is not bad for Google SEO
Twitter: abnormalmarket
October 5, 2010 at 6:24 pm | Permalink
@Suresh Khanal, Thanks for that explanation. I guess we all have to start somewhere on the web, especially when it comes to internet marketing. I think we are living in the best time now.
There are so many blogs, directories, resources, forums and communities that people can join and get support when working online. All these tools can really be utilised so we make as few mistakes as possible.
It really seems like you are on the right track now, and your blog looks pretty good.
Twitter: richescorner
October 5, 2010 at 12:48 am | Permalink
Hi Fiona, thanks for the article on stumbleUpon. I actually use a wordpress plugin called increase sociability that tracks when people arrive to my site from either digg or stumbleupon and invite them to vote for my post.
Richard´s last [type] ..Themes- Plugins- and Widgets Oh My!
Twitter: abnormalmarket
October 5, 2010 at 6:30 pm | Permalink
@Richard, Hi Richard, That’s an excellent tip for encouraging stumbling. Thanks for sharing.